Fastener.



E. F- BRIGHAM.

FASTENER.

APPLICATION FILED APR. H. 1914.

1 209387. Patented Dec.19,1916.

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EDWARD F. BRIGHAM, 0F BLOOMFIELD, NEVT J'ERSEY, ASSIGNOR T0 BENJAMIN &

' JOHN'ES, A CORPORATION OF NEVT JERSEY.

' FASTENER.

To all whom it may concern 7 Be it l'rnown that I, EDWARD F. BRIGI-IAM, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bloomfield, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain Improvements inFasteners, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates more particularly to a hook and eye, and the objects of the invention are to obtain a construction which will afford a secure fastening; to positively prevent separation or unhooking of the hook and eye members when both are in the same plane or approximately in the sameplane; to require said members to beheld in planes at a considerable angle to each other before they can be separated; to secure simplicity ofconstruction and operation, and to obtain other advantages and results as may be brought out in the following description.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals of reference indicate the same parts throughout the several views, Figure 1 is a perspective view ofhook and eye members of my improved construction interlocked; Fig. 2 is a similar view in side elevation on smaller scale; Fig. 3 is a central longitudinal sectional View through the same, and Fig. 4 is a similar sectional view showing the manner of releasing the members from each other.

In the specific embodiment of the invention illustrated in said drawings, the reference numeral 1 indicates the hook member and 2 the eye member, each preferably shaped from a single piece of suitable wire. The hook member 1 has lateral arms 3, 3 lying in the same plane and both bent at their inner ends, or ends whereat the metal is continuous between the arms, upwardly as at 4 out of the plane of the arms and then backward over said plane into substantially parallel relation thereto, as at 5, 5. These bent-back or returned portions 5, 5 are curved, in their own plane, toward one another, see Fig. 1, forming together a U-lip overlying the two arms 3, 3 in spaced relation thereto and constituting therewith a hook. Where said portions 5, 5 meet, the wire is stamped or bent downward toward the plane of the arms 3, 3, forming thereby a locking shoulder 6 projecting toward the plane of the arms 3, 3 and so related thereto as to constrict or reduce the entrance to the recess of the hook provided by the hook Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 1a, 1916.

Application filed April 11, 1914. Serial No. 831,120.

member 1, as is readily seen by viewing said member in side elevation as shown in Fig. 2.

Suitable loops 7, 7 are shown at the free ends of the arms 3, 3, in the plane thereof, whereby the hook may be attached to one of the parts or articles to be connected by the hook and eye, or any other suitable attaching means may be employed.

The eye member 2 comprises suitable arms 8, 8 extending in substantially the same plane to the opposite ends of a transverse end piece 9, said arms being separated suffic ently to receive the hook of the member 1 therebetween. Said arms 8, 8 are provided with loops 10, 10 at their free ends whereby the eye may be attached to the other of the parts or articles to beconnected by the hook and eye, with the end piece 9 transverse to the arms 5 of the hook, or any other suitable attaching means may be employed. It will be noted that the said end-piece 9 is for its end portions 11, 11 in substantially the same plane with the arms 8, 8, but its middle portion 12 is bowed or pressed upward from the rest of the eye member to form a stop 12, as clearly shown in the drawing. The said bent-up portion or stop 12 on the eye member is high enough, and so related to the locking shoulder 6 on the hook member, that if the two hook and eye members are moved toward or away from each other in substantially the same plane in attempting to en gage or disengage them, the stop 12 and shoulder 6 will strike each other, and thus the hook and eye members cannot be properly engaged or disengaged except by bring ing them into planes at substantially right angles, as shown in Fig. 4. It is in this feature of the fastener herein described that my invention more particularly inheres. When the members are engaged in use, the stop 11 will not pass the shoulder 6 until the hook and eye are held at an angle such that the plane of the bowed stop 12 is sub stantially parallel to the plane of the arms 5 of the hook, as shown in Fig. 4:. In this position the hook with the shoulder 6 is easily slid past the stop 12 and thus the hook disengaged from the eye. Since normal position of the hook and eye is such that the arms of both are in substantially the same plane, the angular relation necessary to re lease the hook from the eye is an abnormal position, such as will not occur inadvertently, and thus the hook and eye members are securely locked against separation by is made higher than the shoulder on the hook member, as it has been found in practice, that the eye member usually retains its position in unfastening and the hook member is tipped out of its plane into a position at an angle to said plane sufficient to allow it to disengage the eye. Obviously, therefore, if the shoulder on the hookmemher is shortened the hook member will not require so much tipping, and similarly if the stop on the eye member is increased in height a little it will make no difference in unfastening or separating the two members.

It will be understood that my fastener can be applied to any use whatever to which hook and eye members can be adapted, and furthermore said members can be attached or secured in any suitable and well-known manner to the articles or parts of an article which they connect. I therefore do not wish to be understood as limiting my invention, except as required by the following claims when construed in the light of the prior art. 7

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is 1. In a fastener of the character described, the combination of an eye member having a transverse end bar, and a hook member comprising a U-shaped piece with turned portion of the hook when the members are in substantially the same plane, whereby means are provided on both members to prevent disengagement of them when in substantially the same plane.

2. In a fastener of the character described, the combination of an eye member having a transverse end bar, and a hook member comprising a U-shaped pleceof wire with its closed end returned in a hook adapted to engage said transverse end bar of the eye member,the extremity of the returned portion of the hook being bent lon-' gitudinally of the wire tow'ard the body'of the hook and the middle portion ;of the transverse end bar of the eye member being bent longitudinally of itself toward .the returned portion of the hook when the mem bers are in substantially thesajme plane,

whereby stops are provided on bothmembers to prevent disengagement ofthem when in substantially the same plane. V

EDWVARD F. BBIGHAM.

Witnesses: 7 a r I i 7 HOWARD P. KIN JANET A. AYERS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

